Dzhabar Askerov returned to the ring today in Dagestan, Russia at NewFC, where he was featured in the lone kickboxing fight on the event, against 20 year old German up and comer Enriko Kehl.

Kehl had been riding some momentum to end out the year, with wins over Mohammed Medhar, Magomed Magomedov and Nonsai in the past few months. For him, that momentum came to an end as Dzhabar Askerov was declared the winner by decision.

I personally watched the fight live and thought Kehl won the fight pretty clearly. Askerov came forward but didn't have a very high workrate, while Kehl kept his distance and peppered him with strikes from the outside. Askerov landed a bit more in the third round but Kehl seemed to be the clear winner to me.

For Kehl, it's not really a setback as he's only 20 and still coming up on the scene and because Askerov is a relatively big name by kickboxing standards. Askerov moves on with a win and is scheduled to fight Andy Souwer in the main event at Yokkao Extreme 2013 on January 26.